At the dawn of Trump 2.0, Palm Beach is once again the center of the American political universe. Here’s a look at the rock stars, politicians and business bigwigs who are neighbors with the 45th and 47th presidents.
By Chase Peterson-WithornForbes team
Mr.ar-a-Lago was abuzz on election night, with Donald Trump counting his votes from his gilded ballroom, flanked by Tucker Carlson, UFC boss Dana White and Elon Musk. Several of his neighbors were also partying with Trump, including Australia’s richest person, mining magnate Gina Rinehart (net worth: $30 billion), who paid $66 million in 2022 for a mansion just next door, and Steve Wynn, the casino billionaire ($3.7). billion) who paid $13 million in December for a half-acre property across the water from Mar-a-Lago.
Palm Beach, Florida, has been a haven for America’s richest since Standard Oil tycoon Henry Flagler built the Florida East Coast Railroad in the 1890s and built the iconic Breakers hotel. The exclusive city – full-time population: 9,200 – has lured many notables, including the Vanderbilts, the Kennedys and Sylvester Stallone, with its intoxicating mix of sun, sand and low taxes. There are fewer than 2,500 homes in the city, only a fraction of which offer coveted ocean views.
Dozens of big donors have homes on this swanky 16-mile stretch of Florida coast, along with former Trump friends (former U.K. Ambassador and NY Jets co-owner Woody Johnson, former Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross) and new ones. Dr. Mehmet Oz, Trump’s nominee to oversee Medicare and Medicaid, owns a home in the area. The same goes for John Phelan (candidate for Secretary of the Navy) and Todd Blanche (Deputy Attorney General). Steve Witkoff, co-chairman of Trump’s inauguration committee and his choice for Middle East envoy, is developing a West Palm Beach lagoon resort with Soviet-born billionaire investor Len Blavatnik. Fox News host Bret Baier paid $37 million for a 6,700-square-foot Palm Beach mansion in 2023, while Sean Hannity upgraded his $5 million townhouse to 23 .5 million dollars in the neighboring city of Manalapan in November.
Inventory is tight. As Trump once again expects to head to town to spend weekends in his “Winter White House,” everyone from administration hopefuls and the U.S. Secret Service to the apolitical wealthy are flooding the walk. helping to push the average price of a single-family home up 38% year over year, according to The Corcoran Group. “The day after the election,” says real estate agent Dana Koch, “it was like someone turned on a faucet.”
“They’re flocking to the president,” says Mar-a-Lago member Hilary Musser, who recently listed a nearby 10,000-square-foot mansion — with a second-floor pool and “Ferrari leather” closets — for 36 million dollars. Estate agent Christian Angle added: “There was an absolute feeling of euphoria. »
In all, Forbes found at least 50 billionaires and celebrities, worth a combined $500 billion, who own a house (or second home) in Trump’s neighborhood.
Not all of them are Trump fans. Residents of Palm Beach County (which Trump actually lost in 2016, 2020, and, narrowly, 2024) have long complained about road closures and security checks when Trump is in town, and some have attempted to prevent him from moving in full-time when he leaves office. in 2021. Some prominent Democratic donors, such as sports mogul Avram Glazer and real estate billionaire Neil Bluhm, are also Palm Beachers, as is one of Trump’s closest neighbors, Jeff Greene, the former Mar-a-Lago billionaire who spent some $30 million trying to win the 2018 Democratic primary to take on Ron DeSantis for Florida governor.
Here are some of the most notable, including our next president, listed in order of the appraised or assessed value of their Palm Beach properties.
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Ken Griffin
Estimated value: $768 million
The billionaire hedge fund titan who donated more than $100 million to Republican candidates in the 2024 cycle lives in Miami, but looms large over Palm Beach, where he spent a staggering $500 million. dollars to buy and tear down mansions near Mar-a-Lago to put them together. a huge 28-acre estate, on which he built a house for his 77-year-old mother.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Donald Trump
Estimated value: $375 million (before debt)
Trump purchased Mar-a-Lago — built by cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post in the 1920s — for an estimated $10 million in 1985, or about $30 million adjusted for inflation. He turned it into a country club whose members would include New York Knicks boss James Dolan, author James Patterson and football coaching legend Bill Belichick. Currently worth $342 million, net of debt, it is Trump’s most valuable real estate holding. He also owns three other homes nearby, including his late sister Maryanne Trump Barry’s eight-bedroom mansion across the street, purchased for $18.5 million during his first presidency.
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Nelson Peltz
Estimated value: $372 million
The billionaire investor threw an unforgettable wedding at Montsorrel, his historic 25,000 square foot beachfront home built by Georgia O’Keeffe’s sister, in 2022 when his daughter Nicola married the superstar’s son Brooklyn Beckham footballer David Beckham and former Spice Girl. Victoria Beckham. He’s also the proud parent behind another rapprochement: Peltz claims to have played the role of “matchmaker” between Trump and his new pal Musk.
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John Paulson
Estimated value: $112 million
Famous for shorting subprime mortgages before the 2007 crash, the billionaire bet big on Trump, including hosting a $50.5 million fundraiser for him in April 2024 at the Ocean-Lake Resort which he purchased in 2021 for $110 million. Paulson was touted as a possible choice for Treasury Secretary but withdrew, citing his “complex financial obligations.”
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Jeff Greene
Estimated value: 100 million dollars
The real estate and investment billionaire – who is a former Mar-a-Lago member – did not support Trump in 2024, but sees a silver lining to the election, saying Forbes: “There is no doubt in my mind that having West Palm Beach on television screens around the world will only help our brand and our city.”
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Tommy Hilfiger
Estimated value: $96 million
The fashion designer’s beachfront Coral House spans 21,000 square feet, worthy of a picture book – and he reportedly published one, Hilfiger Homesthis year, he dressed in floral prints, palm tree sculptures and works by Warhol and Picasso.
Thomas Peterffy
Estimated value: $96 million
A reluctant backer of Trump, the digital trading billionaire behind Interactive Brokers owns an 11,000-square-foot home on six acres that he bought for $23 million in 2011. He has urged Republicans to find another candidate in 2024, but he quickly reversed his decision. the writing was on the wall, attending a Trump fundraiser in Aspen, Colorado, in August and donating some $15 million to GOP efforts.
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Stephen Schwarzman
Estimated value: $78 million
Chairman of Trump’s short-lived business advisory council in 2017, Schwarzman initially said he would not support his longtime friend in 2024, but backtracked in May. The billionaire Wall Street titan, who co-founded the $218 billion (market cap) Blackstone, owns a 15,000-square-foot home with views of the Atlantic and Lake Worth Lagoon and serves on the board of directors of the Palm Beach Civic Association.
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Rod Stewart
Estimated value: $66 million
The rock star has occupied a sunny yellow mansion on South Ocean Boulevard since 1995, putting him in Trump’s orbit for years. “I used to go to his Christmas party and the balls he had, but my wife said ‘no,'” Stewart said. Scottish field magazine in 2023.
Sylvester Stallone
Estimated value: $48 million
The MAGA star, whom Trump this week named a “special ambassador to Hollywood,” purchased an 11,000-square-foot plot of land for $35 million in 2020, but got off to a rocky start with his neighbors, who opposed his plan to build a floating fence around his property to repel algae, trash and prying eyes. He abandoned this project in December.
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